Former Worcester Police informant testifies against Fredette in murder trial

Friday

Jun 20, 2014 at 7:52 PM

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — A one-time police informant testified Friday that John Fredette told him he planned to kill Kevin Harkins if Mr. Harkins did not perjure himself in court on Mr. Fredette's behalf.

Donald St. Pierre acknowledged on the witness stand in Mr. Fredette's murder trial that he was a drug dealer and cocaine addict in the mid-1990s and that he turned police informant to avoid going to prison after being caught with drugs by Sgt. Timothy O'Connor, a Worcester vice squad officer who has since retired.

Mr. St. Pierre told the Worcester Superior Court jury he often bought cocaine from Mr. Fredette and Matteo Trotto, and that information he provided to police led to Mr. Fredette's arrest on drug charges in September 1993. He said he continued to buy cocaine from Mr. Fredette, however, so Mr. Fredette would not suspect he'd had anything to do with his arrest.

Mr. Fredette later told him he believed Mr. Harkins or another man, Robert Beahn, was the informant in his case, according to Mr. St. Pierre. Mr. Fredette also said he planned to kill the informant if he discovered his identity, Mr. St. Pierre said.

He testified that Mr. Fredette further told him of a plan to have Mr. Harkins provide false testimony in court to undermine the drug case against him, and said he intended to kill Mr. Harkins if he reneged on his agreement to do so.

Prosecutors contend the 36-year-old Mr. Harkins backed out of the agreement and was killed as a result. They say he was shot to death after getting into a car with Mr. Fredette, Mr. Trotto and Elias Samia the night of Feb. 15, 1994. His body has never been found.

Mr. Fredette, Mr. Trotto and Mr. Samia were charged with Mr. Harkins' murder in 2012. Mr. Trotto was sentenced to life in prison June 3 after being convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying. Mr. Samia is awaiting trial.

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Daniel J. Bennett, Mr. St. Pierre said he was not forced to testify against Mr. Fredette, but chose to because of his longtime friendship with Mr. Harkins. He agreed with the prosecutor's suggestion that no one other than police officers would ever have known he was the informant in Mr. Fredette's drug case if he had opted not to take the witness stand at the murder trial.

Under cross-examination by Mr. Fredette's lawyer, Michael S. Hussey, Mr. St. Pierre agreed that he never said in a 1998 statement to police that Mr. Fredette told him he suspected Mr. Harkins was the informant who got him arrested or that he planned to kill him if he was able to confirm his suspicions.

Mr. St. Pierre also said he misspoke in 1998 when he told investigators he stopped buying drugs from Mr. Fredette after his arrest.

The jury was taken by bus Friday morning to view locations discussed by witnesses during the trial, including Suney's Pub on Chandler Street. Mr. Harkins worked as a bouncer at Suney's, and the prosecution alleges Mr. Trotto called him out of the pub the night he disappeared. Mr. Harkins was declared dead in 2008 in Worcester Probate and Family Court.